All photos © Bill Chartres unless otherwise acknowledged.
Our family (Peg & Bill Chartres'), on Peg's side, is descended from the Banks family from Hollands Creek in the Cudlee Creek District.
This page is dedicated to our sons Nicholas, Wayne, Graham and Jason (who were sixth
generation to reside in Cudlee Creek)
and their children, all of whom have maintained
a close association with the Cudlee Creek District.
Peg's great-great grandfather, George Banks, arrived in Adelaide, South Australia with his
parents Abraham
(1807 - 1860 born in Pevensey, Sussex, England),and Elizabeth (nee Pilbean)
and his
siblings Naomi, William H., and James in 1839 aboard the sailing vessel "Summersetshire".
After a short time in Adelaide they moved to Fifth Creek and later to Marble Hill, before heading
north where Abraham
carted ore from the Burra Copper Mines.
Finally they took up farming at Anstey's Hill where
another son
(Edward in 1846) was born.
Abraham died at Anstey's Hill in 1860 aged 53.
Three of Abraham's sons, (George, William and Edward) all acquired land in
the Cudlee Creek
District. George and William at Hollands Creek, and Edward at Fox's Creek.
George Banks,
(1836 - 1899 - Abraham's second son, Peg's g-g-grandfather
), worked with his father carting ore from the Burra Mines before establishing his own business
carting wool from the northern stations. He later carted wood in the Hope Valley and Anstey’s Hill area
before engaging in farming and dairying at The Prairie, Cudlee Creek.
He later rented, and subsequently purchased (in 1857)
158 acres, known as "Walnut Grove", (on what is
now
known as Hollands Creek Road) Cudlee Creek, which he later added to.
He married Mary Ann Farnham (in 1857), the daughter of Giles Farnham of Fox's Creek;
they had
seven children
(Caroline 13/11/1858, Harriett, 29/02/1860, George 11/07/1861, Cain Thomas 22/07/1863, Louisa
Georgina
08/10/1865, Edith Eliza 20/07/1867, Hannah Moisella 18/07/1869).
George said that "Walnut Grove" had been completely isolated, due to the flooding of the River Torrens.
Cain Thomas Banks,
(Peg's g-grandfather) (known as Thomas - the spelling
of Cain
varies on different documents - I have chosen Cain as that is the spelling on his Head Stone in the Cudlee
Creek
Cemetery), purchased Alfred Hoad's property, "Woodlands"
(on what is now Banks Road), Cudlee Creek, in 1891 where he established an orchard
and nursery.
Thomas married Harriett Mount Gambier Phoebe Westphal (known as Phoebe) on 9th November
1893 and
they had two daughters, Phyllis (27th September 1894) and Olive,
(16th December 1898)(Peg's Grandmother) .
Following Thomas' death, in 1904, Phoebe farmed the property until she leased it to her son-in-law W.
(Bill) Menz
in the 1920's.
When Phoebe died in 1951, the property passed to Bill Menz, who continued to farmed it (16th December
1898)
(with his son, Keith, Peg's father), until his death in 1965, it then passed to his wife
Olive.
William Banks,
Abraham's eldest son, acquired "Sheepcot Farm", Hollands Creek, (103 acres) at Cudlee Creek in
1857,
he later added 129 acres and established it as an orchard growing mainly apples and plums, combining
it with
dairying and grazing.
In 1857 he married Bridget O'Sullivan and they had two sons and three daughters.
He served two years as a member of the Talunga District Council beginning in 1899, he is buried in the
Cudlee Creek
cemetery.
Edward Banks,
Abraham’s youngest son, purchased a block of land at Fox's Creek from Giles Farnham
where he planted
an orchard and established a dairy. He Married Morella, Giles Farnham's daughter, and they had three
children, Thomas,
Abraham and Elsie.
GEORGE BANKS, gardener and grazier, "Walnut Grove," Millbrook
(actually located in Cudlee Creek but, since Cudlee Creek had no Post Office, his address
was Millbrook,
the
nearest Post Office), was born in 1836,
in the County of Sussex, England, and embarked for South Australia with his parents in 1839.
His father, after remaining in Adelaide for a time, removed to Fifth Creek, and subsequently to
Marble Hill, then
known as "The Company's Tiers," where he was engaged in splitting timber, etc. At a later date he
proceeded northwards
and was employed in carting ore from the Burra Copper-mines, and ultimately entered upon the farming
industry at
Dry Creek (the farm was located at Anstey’s Hill,
but since there
was no Post Office there, his address was Dry Creek), where he died at the age of
fifty-three years.
Mr. George Banks found his first employment with Sir Arthur Blyth, and later on assisted his father
in carting on
the Burra Road, which industry he continued on his own account, purchasing a team of bullocks and
undertaking the
transport of wool from the northern stations. Returning to the South he engaged in wood-carting at
Hope Valley and
Anstey Hill, and afterwards turned his attention to farming and dairying at "Prairie," near Millbrook
(actually at Cudlee Creek).
In 1857 Mr. Banks came to "Walnut Grove" (Hollands
Creek, Cudlee Creek)
and rented property which he later on decided to purchase, and acquired 158 acres of
freehold, which he
has since added to, and carries on farming and grazing operations with excellent results. Though
enjoying prosperity
at the present time,
Mr. Banks has at various periods experienced great hardships, and recalls one instance when his
homestead was
completely isolated owing to the overflow of the River Torrens, which runs near his property.
In 1857 he married Mary Ann, second daughter of the late Mr. Giles Farnham, of Fox Creek, and one
son and four
daughters survive of a family of seven children.
Mr. GEORGE BANKS, whose death occurred recently at his residence, Walnut Grove, Holland's Creek,
was born in England in
1836, and arrived in South Australia with his parents in 1839.
In his early days he worked for the late Sir Arthur Blythe, and later with his father carting
copper ore from the Burra
Mines to Port Adelaide.
In 1857 deceased married Miss M. A. Farnham, who predeceased him 11 years ago, and eventually
bought some land at Holland's Creek, and engaged largely in the fruit growing and dairying
industries.
There were seven children, five of' whom are living—Mrs. J. Hood (Murray Bridge), Mrs. A. Roepke
(Holland's Creek),
Mrs. J. Redden (Prairie), Mrs. C. Ludwigs. (Prairie), Mr. George Banks (Mannum), 33 grandchildren,
and 9
great-grandchildren.
Bill Menz,
(Peg's grandfather),
was the son of George and Annie Menz, of Millbrook. He married Olive Banks
(Thomas and Phoebe Banks' daughter) on 8th August 1923.
Bill and Olive Menz had two children, Keith Thomas, (7th February 1925)(Peg's grandfather) and Joyce Olive (14th January 1930)
.
When Bill Menz died (1965) the property passed to his wife, Olive
Keith Thomas Menz,
(Peg's father), was the son
of Bill & Olive Menz. After Olive's death, in 1970, the property was managed by Keith, who farmed it
until the late 1970's when it was sold and subsequently subdivided.
Keith Menz married Irene Olive Parbs (29th October 1946)
they had four Children.
His 2nd daughter, Peg, married Bill Chartres 2nd September 1967.
>
Thomas Chartres,
( born 1818, Yorkshire, England, the son of William and Mary (nee Houghton
))
arrived in Melbourne, Australia in September 1856, with his wife Ruth (nee Smith)
and children
(Mary R., Charlotte, Thomas (Bill's g-grandfather)
and a nephew (Richard Smith), on the "Golden Era" and continued on to Adelaide
aboard the coastal steamer "White Swan" arriving 20th September.
The family finally settled in the Enfield area.
His grandson, Walter Robert Chartres (Bill's father)
,
married Edna Jean Tyrrell (22nd April 1930), and they settled in their
new home at Prospect, where they raised their family.
Wal and Jean had six children, Allan, Kevin, Bill, Jill, Lynette, and Glen.
In 1960 Wal and Jean moved to Cudlee Creek where Wal expanded his fruit packing business.
Wal ("Jinks") Chartres
(photo left) had established a Wholesale Fruit
business (Chartres & Eitzen Pty Ltd)
in the Adelaide East End Markets in 1948 and he later added a fruit packing shed to the business which
was located next to his home at Prospect.
The Packing side of the business rapidly expanded so he decided to move to Cudlee Creek (1960)
with his wife, Jean (photo right)and family, where he built a new home and packing
shed.
The fruit packing venture continued to grow and so a new larger shed and coldstore was built a couple
of years later.
Three of Wal's sons, Allan Kevin and Bill, had joined him in the family business, however following his
death
(1966), firstly Kevin and later Allan, retired from the business to follow other
interests, and Bill continued to manage it until the packing shed was destroyed during the Ash Wednesday
Bushfires (February 1983).
Peggy (Phyllis Irene) Menz
(photo left) (The second daughter of
Keith and Irene Menz, of Banks Road, Cudlee Creek)
married Bill (Graham Brian) Chartres
(photo right)
(The third son of Walter and Jean Chartres, of Redden Drive
, Cudlee Creek) on 2nd September 1967 in the Cudlee Creek Methodist Church, she was the third
generation of the Menz family to be married in the church
(Bill Menz (1923), Keith Menz (1946) and Peggy Menz 1967)).
Peg and Bill have four sons Nicholas James (11th August 1968), Wayne Robert (13th February 1971),
Graham Brian (27th April 1973), Jason Mark (9th September 1976).
Nick, Wayne and Graham
were the fifth generation of the Banks family to attend the Millbrook School, which opened in 1879, when
Cain Thomas Banks (their g-g-grandfather) was a first day student.
Bill Chartres
(photo left) managed a fruit packing shed at Cudlee Creek with a wholesale fruit
business in the old East End Produce Markets in Adelaide (Chartres &
Eitzen Pty. Ltd.),
however, following the disastrous bush fires of Ash Wednesday (16th February 1983) that destroyed
the Cudlee Creek Packing Shed, he sold up and moved to Lobethal with Peg and their family.
Following the fire Bill managed Sunshine Fruit Pty Ltd in Adelaide's wholesale fruit markets,
firstly in the East End and later at the new Pooraka Market.
Photo (RHS) of Chartres & Eitzen Pty. Ltd.’s fruit Packing
Shed, (Redden Drive Cudlee Creek, SA) following Ash Wednesday Bush Fires February, 1983.
Photo Peg & Bill Chartres' collection Circa 1983)>
More photos of Ash Wednesday can be seen HERE
Peg and Bill's four sons joined Bill working in the Market and Graham and Jason are both still working in the fruit
industry (making them seventh generation [on Peg's side] and third generation [on Bill's
side], to be associated with the fruit industry in Australia) Graham in the Sydney Market and Jason at
the Pooraka Market.
Bill retired in 2001, and continues to live with Peg at Lobethal.
Nick Chartres
has one daughter, Jazmin Rose (14th April 1998), and lives in Queensland.
Wayne Chartres
has two sons Gregory Robert (14th February 1996) and Scott Alexander (5 March 1999), and lives at
O’Halloran Hill SA.
Graham Chartres
and his wife Belinda have a daughter Angelique Wilson (19 Jan 2004), and a son Sebastian Wilson
(29 January 2006), and they live in Concord West, NSW.
Jason Chartres
lives in Hope Valley, SA.
